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UCLA, USC Present Challenges For Stanford Tennis This Weekend

STANFORD, Calif.- Both Stanford tennis teams will get their first taste of the LA schools this weekend, with the men hosting matches at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium and the women hitting the road for the first time in three weeks.

This weekend's matchups against the LA schools will not count toward the conference standings. Instead, the second round of matches in April will factor into the team's Pac-10 records. Regardless, both programs will be looking to make an early-season statement this week against some familiar league foes.

Undefeated at 6-0, No. 11 Stanford will host Hawai'i on Wednesday afternoon before making a weekend road trip to Southern California.

Thanks to a 7-0 shutout of Boise State last week, the Cardinal extended its home winning streak to an unthinkable 155 in a row (125 in the regular season), recognized as the longest active home winning streak of any intercollegiate sport in NCAA Division I athletics. The last time the Cardinal lost a home match was back on Feb. 27, 1999, when No. 4 California pulled a 5-4 upset.

So it's Hawai'i on Wednesday afternoon in another home contest before taking on UCLA (Friday, Feb. 26 at 1:30 p.m.) and USC (Saturday, Feb. 27 at 12 p.m.). At the start of the week, the Bruins were ranked No. 4 in the country while the Women of Troy checked in at No. 9. Even if those matches do not count in the Pac-10 standings, they will be critical in terms of postseason seeding. Stanford entered the week as the Pac-10's lone undefeated team.

No. 8 Stanford enters the week at 7-2 overall. The Cardinal cruised past Boise State 6-1 before dropping a hard-fought 4-3 loss to California the following day in a pair of home matches last week.

Now Stanford continues its five-match homestand this weekend when the LA schools come to town. Both squads start the week ranked in the top-10, with the Bruins rated No. 6 and the Trojans ranked No. 5. These contests will not count toward the Pac-10 standings. The counting matches are scheduled for early April in Los Angeles.

Stanford has already faced two top-10 clubs this year, falling to No. 8 Texas 4-0 and defeating No. 10 Kentucky 4-2 at the National Team Indoor Championships.